Interview with an Actor (Day Three)

One of the great things about Makeshift is that we consistently get to work with a wonderful group of vibrant and exciting actors each of whom has a passion for entertaining audiences young and old alike. We consider ourselves a family, and while we have many actors that come and go throughout our seasons, we do have close friends that return season after season to entertain and inspire young audiences. As part of our Anniversary season, many faces of Makeshift old and new are happy to offer their own personal thoughts and memories about their experiences in theatre. For Yesterday's Update, click Here!

Today I'm chatting with another new arrival to the Makeshift family, Victoria Townsend. Victoria joins the cast of Emperor's New Clothes as a model, and offered us her thoughts on the experience.

As a child, what was your favorite children's story and why?
My favorite children's story is a book called 'The True story of the Three Little Pigs' by Jon Scieszka. It's a very funny book that tells the story of the three little pigs from the wolf's perspective. It shows that he might not really be a bad guy after all.

What do you think families should take away from Emperor's New Clothes?
I think the most important thing that families can learn from ENC is that it's important to always listen to each other and remember that love and family is more important that clothing, or money or parties or other things.

What was it like working with the director?
Caitlin is an awesome director because she always has so much energy and enthusiasm and she's great at making us have energy too. She's also not afraid to get up and act silly to show us what she wants. It makes it a lot easier for all of us to act silly too.

Okay, seriously, Just how do you guys memorize all those lines?!
People always ask actors how they memorize lines and I always say that that's really one of the easiest parts. Actors get a lot of practice memorizing lines so a lot of them get really good at it. Just like if you practice a sport or an instrument then you get better at it. The hard part is trying to figure out the right way to say the lines so that you are really doing the best job you can as your character.

What would you say to kids in the audience who are interested in acting?
I would say, why wait? Work on plays at your school or find an after-school program where you can take classes or be in shows. And when you do that, don't be afraid what people think of you, act silly and just have fun. The best actors are actors that aren't afraid that they're going to look dumb in front of other people.